VIEWERS at a screening of the film Pride at the University of South Wales were joined by a special guest — a former collier portrayed in the film.
Dai Donovan, who was played in the film by Paddy Considine, joined an audience of more than 50 mainly USW students at the ATRiuM building in central Cardiff.
Paddy Considine, who plays Dai Donovan in Pride. Credit: Paul Bednall, via Flickr
Set during the 1985 miners’ strike, Pride depicts the London-based political activists called Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners who raise money to support the South Wales mining village of Onllwyn.
Today Dai is the Wales union official for BECTU, the Broadcast Entertainment Communications and Theatre Union, which hosted the screening to encourage students to join a union.
In an interview with USW students after the screening he said: “I think the power of trade unions today is greater than ever.
“We always talk about their confrontation with the Thatcher government in the 1980s but today I think unions make more of an impact because you can’t force people to join, they make a conscious decision to do so.”
Dai praised the accuracy of the film but said: “The only difference is that we were not as clueless about gay people as is portrayed in the film, and there was no real antagonism against LGSM in Onllwyn.
“I feel we can take real pride in Wales that we opened our hearts to them as we were being misinformed about Aids by the media.”
Dai Donovan shakes hands with his interviewer, USW student Joshua Prime.
Joshua Prime, a 20-year-old film student who interviewed Dai said: “I’m really glad I got to meet Dai and interview someone I really respect.”
“Pride is a really important film because it highlights how LGBT people have been supported by progressive politics in the past. It’s an inspiration for us to continue standing up for the rights of trans people today.”
Dai Donovan shakes hands with his interviewer, USW student Joshua Prime.
